Strong handbag sales in China and Japan lift Coach

(Reuters) - Coach Inc posted a 17.4 percent rise in quarterly profit as the company cut back on discounting in the United States while selling more handbags in China and Japan.

Coach, whose shares were up 3.5 percent at $37.23 before the opening bell, has limited promotions and pulled out of more than 250 department stores as it tries to win back its premium-brand cachet.

The company's net income rose to $199.7 million, or 71 cents per share, in the second quarter ended Dec. 31 from $170.1 million, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Coach earned 75 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 74 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net sales rose to $1.32 billion from $1.27 billion, in line with analysts' average estimate.

Coach's sales at North American stores open at least a year rose 3 percent, beating analysts' estimate of 2.4 percent, according to research firm Consensus Metrix. (Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)